The best era for every current AAC football school

Tulane Green Wave: Willie Fritz and the Cotton Bowl (2016-2023)

The eight-year run under Willie Fritz is the consensus pick for the best era in Tulane football history. Fritz arrived in New Orleans intending to rebuild a Green Wave program consistently mired in mediocrity. Willie had big credentials on his resume as he led Georgia Southern to a combined record of 18-7 in the Eagles first two seasons at the FBS level in 2014 and 2015.

Georgia Southern captured the 2014 Sun Belt Conference and won the GoDaddy Bowl in 2015. Fritz was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year in 2014. In those same years, Tulane went through consecutive 3-9 campaigns. They also hadn't won a bowl game since 2002. Willie's first two years were uneventful but the team improved by a win. In 2016, they went 4-8. The 2017 team went 5-7.

The 2018 season was the start of Tulane's return to respectability. After a 2-5 start, the Green Wave rallied by winning four of their last five games of the regular season. This late push was highlighted by the regular season finale. Against Navy, Tulane had a 5-6 mark and was in danger of being bowl ineligible. They had a 21-3 lead before Navy came back to be up by a score.

Then, with less than a minute and a half left, Justin McMillan connected with Jaetavian Jones for a 26-yard touchdown pass, and with a two-point conversion, held on and won by a score of 29-28. The school received a bid to play in the Cure Bowl, their first postseason trip since 2013. With a 41-24 win over Louisiana, Tulane enjoyed their first bowl win in 16 years.

In 2018, Tulane had another decently successful year. They started 5-1 with the only blemish being a 24-6 loss to No. 10 Auburn. Then they went 1-5 to end the regular season. Another 6-6 record got them into another bowl game, the Armed Forces Bowl against Southern Mississippi. It was the first time the school had gone to two consecutive bowl games since 1979-1980. The Wave blew out USM, 30-13.

In the condensed COVID-19 season, Tulane still played eleven games. They started 2-4, featuring a close 37-34 loss to No. 17 SMU. Once again, Tulane rallied and became victorious in four of the last five games. The one loss in that stretch was to No. 25 Tulsa. With a 6-5 record, Tulane got invited to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, which they lost to Nevada. In 2012, Fritz went through his worst season, going 2-10.

But that year quickly exited the minds of Tulane fans because of what came after. The entire city of New Orleans was still recovering from the second most destructive hurricane to hit the city, Hurricane Ida in 2021. Similarly to how the Saints galvanized the city in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina, Tulane would do the same in 2022.

The team raced to a 6-1 start. Along the way took down Kansas State. It was Tulane's first win over a Power Five conference opponent since a win over Mississippi State in 2006. By late October, Tulane became ranked for the first time since 1998. The team did suffer a one-score loss to No. 22 UCF but would get another crack against the Knights.

After a 10-2 regular season, the school's first double-digit win record since 1998, a rematch with UCF was set in the American Conference Championship Game. In the second match between the two teams in Yulman Stadium, Tulane got some payback, beating UCF 45-28. With a dominant 11-2 mark, the team skyrocketed to the No. 14 spot and received a bid to play in the Cotton Bowl.

They would then get a matchup with #8 USC on the national stage. In the game, Tulane trailed almost the whole way. Facing a 15-point deficit with four and a half minutes left, it was looking like a valiant Tulane effort that would result in a loss. Then, lighting struck. Out of nowhere, Tulane would score 16 unanswered points off a Tyjae Spears touchdown run, a safety forced by Patrick Jenkins, and finally an Alex Bauman touchdown catch with nine seconds left.

Tulane shocked the country with one of the most memorable comebacks in recent memory and took down USC 46-45. It was the first time Tulane won a major bowl game since a win in the Sugar Bowl in 1934. They also finished the season ranked at No. 9, the first top 10 postseason ranking since 1998. Willi Fritz won that year's AAC Coach of the Year award.

Last season was even better from a record standpoint was concerned. They went 11-1 in the regular season, going undefeated in conference play. They were also in the top 25 regularly, ranking as high as No. 17. They returned to the American championship but came up short in a loss to No. 25 SMU. Soon after Willie Fritz would leave to take the job at Houston. Slade Nagle would take over in coaching before the Military Bowl. Tulane would lose to Virginia Tech but Fritz still earned his second American Coach of the Year award.